The present invention relates to a wireless system for conveniently determining the whereabouts of one or more objects and, particularly, to using a mobile terminal, such as a cellular telephone, in such a system.
Remembering the current location of everyday items is challenging, particularly for active people with busy schedules. Being able to quickly locate a purse, briefcase, or set of car keys, may be the difference between being late or on time for an important meeting. Further, it is simply less frustrating when forgotten or misplaced items are easily located.
Various types of systems facilitate determining the location of one or more misplaced items. In particular, various wireless systems include a transmitter unit and a corresponding set of one or more receiving units. Typically, these receiving units have a physical configuration that allows for their convenient attachment to various items of interest. As noted above, such items might include handbags, briefcases, or car keys. In existing schemes, the transmitter unit emits a signal to which one or more receiving units are responsive. Upon receiving the signal from the transmitter unit, a receiving unit emits an audible signal, thereby enabling a person to more easily locate the particular item to which the receiving unit is attached.
While functional, these existing systems have distinct shortcomings. As the basic problem these systems try to solve is largely one of being able to quickly locate various items of interest, adding a transmitting unit to that list of items is counterproductive. Simply, the utility of the transmitting unit lies only in its ability to aid in locating various receiving units attached to various items of interest. Users are therefore forced to remember the location of a device whose only purpose is to help locate other devices. Ironically, users may spend as much time searching for the transmitting unit as might have been expended in an unaided search for the item of interest.
Restricted functionality represents another shortcoming of these existing systems. For example, the transmitting unit sends a one-way signal to one or more of the receiving units and the receiving units simply beep in response. If the receiving unit attached to the item of interest is covered or enclosed by another object, its audible signal may not be noticeable to the searcher. Thus, absent this feedback, the searcher has no indication that the item of interest is even in the searcher's general vicinity and is apt to needlessly extend the search into areas well removed from the item's actual location. Worse, the searcher may erroneously conclude that the item of interest is somewhere else entirely and prematurely end their search.
Another shortcoming of existing systems is the inability to conveniently manage the tracking of multiple objects. Ideally, the transmitting unit would provide the searcher with a convenient interface allowing the searcher to view listings of the various items that have been associated with corresponding receiving units. From this listing, the searcher would be able to pick one or more items and, based on the selected items, the transmitting unit would cause the corresponding receiver units to beep. In general, providing such an interface is impractical because of the expense added to a transmitting unit that, apart from its locating capabilities, provides no value or functionality to a user.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an object locating system that provides users with an indication that a receiving unit physically associated with an item of interest is nearby, even if the audible signal from the receiving unit is somehow muffled or attenuated below the threshold of hearing. Preferably, the object locating system includes a convenient user interface providing straightforward selection of the desired objects, such that the transmitting unit specifically stimulates the receiving units corresponding to the desired objects. Ideally, the object locating system includes a transmitting unit that serves other useful functions.